Examining epitope mutagenesis as a strategy to reduce and eliminate human antibody binding to class II swine leukocyte antigens.

ABSTRACT: Xenotransplantation of pig organs into people may help alleviate the critical shortage of donors which faces organ transplantation. Unfortunately, human antibodies vigorously attack pig tissues preventing the clinical application of xenotransplantation. The swine leukocyte antigens (SLA), homologs of human HLA molecules, can be xenoantigens. SLA molecules, encoded by genes in the pig major histocompatibility complex, contribute to protective immune responses in pig. Therefore, simply inactivating them through genome engineering could reduce the ability of the human immune system to surveil transplanted pig organs for infectious disease or the development of neoplasms. A potential solution to this problem is to identify and modify epitopes in SLA proteins to eliminate their contribution to

SUBMITTER: Ladowski JM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6905188 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature